The
Ides of March
March
is named after Mars the Roman god of war. I have always associated
March with the Ides of March, a time of trouble and uncertainty
because of the fact that Julius Caesar was assassinated on the Ides
of March—March15 -- an event which changed Roman history. This
historical assassination is retained in our collective memory and
made even more famous by the play “Julius Caesar” by William
Shakespeare and the novel “The Ides of March” by Thornton Wilder.
March is also a time of new beginnings. March 19th is
the vernal equinox--the first day of Spring with all the hope and
excitement that the coming of Spring brings.
The
Coming Election—
A
Defining Moment in History
With
the Iowa caucuses past, we are now in full swing toward the presidential election with super Tuesday on March 3rd and
on toward the Democratic nominating convention on July 13th
and the presidential election on November 3rd. I have been
through many elections, but none is as important to our country as
this election because the future of our democracy is at stake. We
will not only be choosing a president, but a way of life that
ultimately will affect every citizen. Will we choose an autocratic
leader who will dictate to us how we should live and think, or will
be choose a leader who will allow freedom of choice-- a leader who
will celebrate our diversity and make a better life for every citizen
in our country. That choice is now the choice of every voter to make
and if we make the wrong choice as the Germans did in electing Hitler
(who promised Germany he would make Germany great again) any loss of
our freedom will be ultimately our own fault. It will be the most
important task this year of every freedom-loving citizen to put all
their energy and effort into preserving our precious democracy for
the present and for all of our future generations
Movie
--Lord of War
This
month I saw the movie “ Lord of War” with Nicolas Cage. This
story is partly based on the real-life Russian arms dealer Viktor
Bout. It is a moving and interesting portrait of the type of man who
will sell weapons to anyone in the world who will pay his price.
Nicolas Cage gives an accomplished performance of a man who only
cares about money and doesn't worry too much about the morality of
what he is doing in selling death. It is also a portrait of the
people in all countries who enable these weapon merchants to exist
unchecked and unregulated. I had never before thought about all of
the important leaders in our world who are complicit in the
distribution of chaos and death.
This
film was officially endorsed by the human rights group Amnesty
International for highlighting arms trafficking by the international
arms industry.
Free books by June
Stepansky
A Different
Voice—free self-help book
https://www.free-ebooks.net/self-improvement/A-Different-Voice
Kaleidoscope—free
poetry book
https://www.free-ebook.net/poetry/kaleidoscope
https://www.free-ebook.net/poetry/kaleidoscope
